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Thursday, 30 June 2011

http://t.co/iOS8KBUWritten by Gerren Keith Gaynor
A program entitled “Not Guilty: The Tragedy of Wrongful Convictions in the U.S., and the DNA Evidence that Frees Them,” seeks to exonerate thousands of minority inmates who falsely end up on the wrong side of prison bars, due to deep flaws found in the legal system.
Created by ForensicScience.org, “Not Guilty” provides tangible data to bring a national awareness to this pressing issue and, with the advancement of science and DNA, help free innumerable amounts of wrongfully convicted people — 70 percent of whom are minorities.
DNA evidence has helped free nearly 300 wrongfully convicted people, however, the fight for such liberation is only the beginning.
A significant cause of the plethora of wrongful convictions is attributed to the failed legal system. In nearly 1 out of 5 exoneration cases, prosecutors had opposed DNA test. Additionally, only half of wrongfully convicted people have been financially compensated. Such data suggests there is more to be done.
The program encourages citizens to reach out to their local representatives to find out what they can do to help. For ways that you can help visit InnocenceProject.orgRead More At ForensicScience.orgRELATED:Young Black And Hispanic Men Likely To Be Jobless, Unemployment Or Dead

Wednesday, 29 June 2011

The Hon. Cynthia McKinney has traveled to Lybia along with a fact-finding team and is now back touring the country telling what she saw and witnessed. Atlanta is one of many of her stops as she and other concerned citizen want the American public and the world to know truth from lies.

A report has been released chronicling the political strategies of private prison companies "working to make money through harsh policies and longer sentences." Government spending on corrections has soared since 1997 by 72 percent, costing up to $74 billion in 2007. All the while, the private prison industry has packed in tremendous profits. Ana Kasparian of the Young Turks joins RT's Lauren Lyster live from the Los Angeles studio.

American Christian music has been launching teenage singers onto the scene for years now. Amy Grant was 16 when she released her first album, Rachael Lampa was 15 and Jaci Velasquez was 12. So it shouldn't come as too much of a shock that Red Hammer Records have recently released the 'One Girl' album by 16 year old Katelynne Cox. The Portland, Oregon-born, Camas, Washington-based singer describes her music as "positive pop with some throwback '80s guitars" and her album, produced by Aaron Rice, has plenty of memorable hooky songs like "Prove 'em Wrong" - an exhortation to anyone who's been told that their faith is only a phase they're going through; "Ordinary Day" where Katelynne reminds us that God can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary; and the album's current single "Me". Says the young singer, "The song 'Me' on my new album is about realising that you have to give your whole life to God, not just parts, and follow his plan because ultimately he chooses your destiny. It's important to understand that you can't stop the inevitable and that he is going to take care of you, you just have to have faith."
Brought up in a home with deeply committed Christian parents music and acting have long been a part of Katelynne's life. "I've been singing before I could talk.but my first performance was when I was five years old, and I was cast as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz at Children's World of Music."
She says her family have been her greatest supporters. "I'm so blessed to have a Mom and a Dad that love and support me to the core and that each of them found equally as supportive partners! They mean everything to me and they encourage me to keep reaching for my dreams! Also, one person that has continued to support me and teach me things far greater than what I could imagine is my executive producer, Darren Bowls. Something I always live by, is what he told me: 'You haven't failed until you've quit'. That means so much to me and I hope it inspires all of you too. I know that I will keep pushing and pushing and do the best that I can."
Despite her happy family environment growing up wasn't easy for Katelynne as she was the victim of bullying in school. As a result, she had to change schools nine times. "It was a struggle. It was hard to just brush it off. In eighth grade, I was attending a private school and I switched schools because my parents wanted to transfer me into the public school. I got called words that I didn't even know, that I didn't even understand. I had to look them up or ask my parents what they meant. I had threats to kill me. I had people stalking my house and people got arrested for some of the stuff that they were doing to me."

There's a common misperception that only socially awkward or "nerdy kids" become the target of bullying when in reality, beautiful, over-achieving students are also frequent victims. For petite, pretty Katelynne it was a living nightmare. As a sophomore, she was tackled in the hallway and sprayed with foul-smelling men's cologne. On another occasion, her cheerleading uniform was stolen to keep her from cheering in a big game.
She was scared and miserable. For a while she tried to escape the abuse by trying harder to fit in. She dyed her hair black and tried to blend in by changing her appearance and developing a tougher attitude. She admits she put her faith on the back burner, but God drew her closer again and taught her important lessons. She learned her true identity was in Christ and his plan wasn't for her to conform to the world, but to use her gifts for his glory. "I started going to church again," Katelynne says. "I sang at a church and realised that the Lord's plan for me wasn't to act like everyone else. It was to pursue my dreams. I know he has a plan for me and I plan to keep following that and trying to see where he wants me to go."
At the age of 14 Katelynne recorded her first album 'Unbelievable'. Now it's 'One Girl' which is pulling in radio play Stateside. She says, "I chose songs that I feel I can relate to and things I've experienced and that other people have gone through too. Every song is a little piece of Katelynne. I want my audience to get a feel for who I am through my music and be able to relate to me and my life. I want people who have faced the same hardships I have to know that they aren't the only ones and that I know what they're going through. I want my listeners to be inspired to do what they love and be who they are. I think the song 'One Girl' has a great message about standing out in the crowd, having your thoughts heard, and being beyond the status quo."

Once again, Ludacris has teamed up with the National Runaway Switchboard – this time to promote a new chat service to help distressed runaway teens.
Having a rough time at home and need someone to talk to?
Ludacris knows who you can turn to…
Luda is working with the NRS to raise awareness of “Live Chat with NRS”, a new service offering abused and unhappy kids resources and advice after they have left home due to bad circumstances. He has promoted the “Home Free” program that provides kids a free Greyhound bus ticket home, as well as the “Runaway Prevention Month” and the National Runaway Switchboard.
He says, “I’m fortunate I’m in a position where I can help the National Runaway Switchboard reach out to runaway and at-risk youth. I want young people to know they don’t have to face their problems alone and this new live chat service will provide another way to get the help they need.”
For more info on this cool organization, please go to http://www.1800runaway.org

Lyndon LaRouche's latest racial slur on Web TV - and it's by no means his worst. LaRouche chortles over the chimp joke. New York, NY (BlackNews.com) -- Lyndon LaRouche, the ultra-right cult leader and convicted felon who poses as a "Democrat," has shown his bigotry once again--this time on the June 8th LPAC Weekly Report, a webcast sponsored by the LaRouche Political Action Committee. The show was a panel discussion moderated by John Hoefle, senior economist of LaRouche's weekly newsmagazine, Executive Intelligence Review, and included LaRouche himself speaking from a studio in Germany. At the end of the program, LaRouche suddenly asked, "Where does a chimpanzee go to vote in the U.S. elections?" Hoefle, apparently already knowing the answer, replied "I think it's the White House." LaRouche was then shown beaming and chortling. The video clip is available, along with commentary from LaRouche critics, at www.lyndonlarouchewatch.org/larouche-chimpanzees-white-house.htmPresident Obama, obviously a target of the slur along with African-American voters who support him, has frequently been the object of far worse comments by LaRouche. For instance, in April 2008, LaRouche told his followers: "You'll find Obama's ancestry, if you chase the family tree, everybody's climbing and swinging from the branches there....Every monkey in every tree, from every part of the world, has participated in the sexual act of producing him." LaRouche's rhetoric was at its most sinister in early 2010, when right-wing anger and hysteria regarding the President had reached a high point and some Tea Partiers were threatening violence against Democrats. On January 30, 2010, LaRouche gave a webcast speech claiming that Americans were thinking about lynching Obama. LaRouche suggested that they were moving in the right direction--that it was time to "take out Obama." LaRouche also stated that the President was good only for "kindling"--a comment that, in the context of the lynching remark, appeared to refer to how racist mobs burned black men at the stake, or burned their lynched corpses, during the Jim Crow era. www.lyndonlarouchewatch.org/larouche-obama-2010.pdfSix weeks later, LaRouche gave an address entitled the "Ides of March 2010" (a reference to the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC) in which he again urged the extra-constitutional removal of Obama from office. This speech, laced with sadistic language, was posted at several video-sharing websites under the heading "Obama is Going Down." And just in case the viewer or reader didn't "get" it, the transcript of the speech, as posted on LaRouche's own Schiller Institute website, included an illustration of Caesar being stabbed in the Roman Senate by his assassins. The caption predicted that "as with Caesar, time is running out for Barack Obama..." (www.lyndonlarouchewatch.org/larouche-obama-2010E.pdf) Such rhetoric calls into question the claims of the LaRouche cult, and especially of its LaRouche Youth Movement (LYM), to be an idealistic multiracial group that works for the good of the entire human race. The LYM is best known for its card tables--for instance, on college campuses and at post offices--festooned with pictures of President Obama wearing a Hitler moustache. The young people at these tables call for Obama's impeachment on grounds that his policies are worse than those of Nazi Germany; they also offer pamphlets and other literature promoting LaRouche's peculiar ideas about the British royal family and an impending New Dark Age. Experts estimate that there are upwards of 500 full-time LYM members in the United States alone, with at least that many in other countries. The grueling hours and fanatical devotion of the LYMers and of older LaRouche followers have given the group a visibility--and in at least one instance (the health care hearings in the summer of 2009, where LaRouche followers served as the cutting edge of right-wing anger against Obama's plan), an impact--far out of proportion to its actual numbers. The ambiguous position of young blacks within this anti-Obama shock brigade was revealed by the video of LaRouche's June 8th racial slur. Sky Shields, an African-American member of the LYM, had just finished summing up the panel discussion, when LaRouche asked out of the blue the question about chimpanzees. Shields' body language and facial expressions thereafter during the show's final moments are open to multiple interpretations, but former associates of the cult suggest that LaRouche may have consciously set up Shields to be humiliated. They say that LaRouche has a long history of placing his followers in acutely embarrassing situations in order to prove his power over them. Dennis King, a writer who has tracked the LaRouche cult for over 30 years and runs the Lyndon LaRouche Watch website, states: "LaRouche is putting forward black followers as a smokescreen to cover up his agenda of hate. Last year, a black woman from his movement actually won a Democratic congressional primary in Texas--in a solid Republican district where Democrats were asleep at the wheel--and LaRouche then used her candidacy to promote his 'impeach Obama' slogan. He's also used his Jewish followers in a similar manner, as a cover for his anti-Semitic campaigns." King continued, "The June 8th chimp joke proves once again that LaRouche is not a friend of African-Americans, just as his notorious joke about how many Jews you can fit into a Volkswagen ashtray shows he is no friend of the Jews. "It's time for the NAACP and other civil rights organizations to speak out against the hate rhetoric of LaRouche's cult and its use of deceptive come-ons and 'ego-stripping' indoctrination methods to recruit and exploit young people of all races. It's also time that black, Jewish and other student organizations at colleges targeted by the LYM demand that LYM recruitment tables be banned from their campuses and that college officials take steps to warn students about the trickery employed by this cult," King concluded. LaRouche's racism dates back at least to the early 1970s when his followers engaged in numerous violent clashes with black nationalists and circulated racially charged leaflets and pamphlets. Between 1977 and 1994, LaRouche and his organization supported the South African apartheid regime by way of numerous propaganda efforts. According to an investigative series in The New York Times (Oct. 7-8, 1979), they also "produced private intelligence reports on anti-apartheid groups in the United States for the Bureau of State Security of South Africa." LaRouche hired the Grand Dragon of the Pennsylvania Ku Klux Klan as his security advisor in the early 1980s. In 1987, the advisor, Roy Frankhouser (now deceased), was convicted in federal court of obstructing justice on LaRouche's behalf after LaRouche came under FBI investigation for massive nationwide credit card and loan fraud. LaRouche and Frankhouser both ended up serving time in federal prison as a result of those investigations and the subsequent trials. Extensive documentation on LaRouche's history of racism can be found at www.lyndonlarouchewatch.org/larouche-obama-menu.htm. For information on his criminal history, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaRouche_criminal_trials

By Nadra Kareem NittleAmerica's WireLos Angeles, CA (BlackNews.com) -- African-Americans once were clustered so heavily in urban areas that the terms "black" and "inner city" came to be used almost synonymously. According to the 2010 U.S. Census results, that time is history. While blacks have by no means vanished from cities, unprecedented numbers have headed for the suburbs or left the big cities of the North and headed south. As legislative districts are redrawn, nonpartisan groups and both political parties are watching how this unexpected migration will affect local and state elections. Moreover, redistricting experts say the black exodus from cities such as Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia contributed to placing Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania among the 10 states that will lose congressional seats because of reapportionment after the census. With Republican governors in 29 states, the GOP has greater influence over redistricting than Democrats. But it is unclear whether the migration of African-American voters will change the number of congressional districts where black candidates can win. Rob Richie, executive director of FairVote, based in Takoma Park, Md., notes that Republicans often join civil rights leaders in supporting African-American legislative districts rather than creating politically diverse districts where the black vote could decide close elections. "Republicans have a political interest in concentrating the African-American vote," Richie says. "When blacks are concentrated, they can't have their votes in as many districts. It's a trade-off." Experts on redistricting foresee multicultural coalitions emerging in formerly all-black communities and people of color eventually gaining more political clout in suburbs and exurbs. In California, the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission will carve out the state's electoral districts for the first time. Voters authorized having a nonpartisan board, not legislators, delineate these districts in passing the Voters First Act (Proposition 11) in 2008. To ensure that new districts don't dilute black voting power, grass-roots organizations mobilized to present the commission with recommendations for keeping communities of color intact. New district lines must be drawn by Aug. 15. Although black flight from California cities is changing demographics, experts say that is unlikely to shake up the state's political scene. "The 2010 census showed that there has been a drift of the black population away from the coastal areas to more inland areas in California," says Michelle Romero, a fellow at The Greenlining Institute, which is based in Berkeley and advocates for racial and economic justice. "But fortunately in Los Angeles, there's the potential to build multi-ethnic coalitions of voters after this new redistricting cycle." From 2000 to 2010, the black population in Los Angeles County dropped from 9.8 percent to 8.7 percent, according to census findings. In Alameda County, which includes Oakland and other San Francisco Bay areas, the drop was from 14.9 percent to 12.6 percent. Erica Teasley Linnick, coordinator of the African American Redistricting Collaborative in Los Angeles, doesn't view black migration from California's urban cores as a threat to black voting power. When African-Americans leave California cities, she says, Latinos and Asians with similar political interests usually replace them. "In Los Angeles, you've had coalitions coming together to vote in Tom Bradley (the city's first black mayor) to now Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa," says Teasley Linnick, who also notes that blacks who have moved from Los Angeles gained political representation in the city's outlying areas. For instance, Wilmer Amina Carter, a black woman, has represented the state's 62nd Assembly District in the Inland Empire region bordering metropolitan Los Angeles, since 2006. Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president and CEO of Community Coalition, a social and economic advocacy group for South Los Angeles, agrees that black flight from the city will not undercut African-American voting power. "It's been happening over a 20-year period," he says. "It's not a dramatic change, so it's not significant enough to curtail African-American political representation." In fact, experts say Republicans in California face new challenges underscored by the census count. Three million more Latinos moved into California between 2000 and 2010, resulting in predictions that Republicans may lose ground after new electoral districts are drawn. Analysts say Democrats could gain as many as five seats in the State Legislature, enough to form a supermajority. The shift to having an independent panel redistrict California communities makes it difficult for Republicans to devise a redistricting strategy, according to Matt Rexroad, a GOP strategist in Sacramento. "As always, the Republican strategy is to recruit good candidates and make sure their message resonates with voters, just like at any other time," he says. "Sometimes, it's worked and, well, sometimes it hasn't." But what effect will black flight from California cities and the surging Latino population have on the GOP statewide? Rexroad says the Republican Party and African-American community typically share interests in redistricting. "You've found Republicans and African-Americans arguing for the same district configurations," he says. "African-Americans want their votes consolidated to win urban seats." This time around, however, some California activists want the black vote less concentrated to exert wider influence, Rexroad says, adding that the enormous growth of the Latino population is not necessarily bad news for Republicans. He notes that in California's Central and Imperial valleys, for instance, Latinos tend to lean to the right. "They're largely responsible for Proposition 8 passing," he says, referring to the ban on gay marriage. "They're very conservative on social issues." While Republicans may not gain power where blacks have departed, blacks who have headed south will probably not be able to turn red states blue in the near future, says Herb Tyson of Tyson Innovative Government Relations Solutions in Washington, D.C. The black migration "doesn't help Democrats because the South is so heavily skewed Republican you would have to have a huge representation of African-Americans to make a difference statewide," he Tyson says. On the other hand, in cities such as Atlanta, the black population is so large that African-Americans relocated there from throughout the nation won't change the political landscape. The Atlanta area now has the greatest number of blacks in the country outside of New York City. For years, Chicago held that distinction. Moreover, three-fourths of the 25 counties in which the black population rose most over the past decade are in the South. In Texas, the black population grew by 22 percent, in part because of Hurricane Katrina refugees who relocated there permanently. With the Latino population also growing, by 42 percent, minorities could alter the political landscape that Republicans have controlled. Meanwhile, five counties with the greatest number of blacks 10 years ago - Los Angeles County, Philadelphia County, Wayne (Detroit), Cook (Chicago) and Kings (New York City) - all lost African-Americans. Democratic pollster Ron Lester stresses that populations in northeastern states dropped overall but says he doesn't expect that to have much political impact. "The loss has been spread around," Lester says. "It's a lot of college-educated voters who are leaving." Lester also questions the notion that population declines in northern states will benefit Republicans in that region or nationally. "In places like New York, I don't think that's going to them help pick up a seat in Congress," he says. "I think that right now, you have [43] members of the Congressional Black Caucus. When redistricting is over, you'll have the same number." In the historically black District of Columbia, the African-American population decreased by 11.5 percent between 2000 and 2010. In contrast, the black population in nearby Charles County in Maryland doubled as African-Americans departed the District. David Bositis, senior research associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C., doesn't expect the black population decrease to have a huge impact on the city's political scene. "By and large, white voters have almost always had a major say in D.C. politics, so the fact that D.C. is becoming less black isn't really changing the politics," Bositis says. "The exception is Marion Barry. He was the only politician in D.C. who was able to win without white support." The former mayor is a City Council member. Nationally, black movement away from cities will eventually give minorities more political clout in areas where they settle, Bositis says. He adds, though, that this phenomenon will take time because the black and Latino population is on average younger than the white population. "Certainly in the future, it's going to represent an advantage but not immediately because younger people are not as politically active as older people are, and the white population is getting quite old," he says. America's Wire is an independent, non-profit news service run by the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. America's Wire is made possible by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. For more information, visit www.americaswire.org or contact Michael K. Frisby at mike@frisbyassociates.com.
-END-

Records of the Indiana Department of Child Services reveal that Christian Choate, a boy who authorities claim lived locked in a cage and died from savage abuse, wrote letters describing his situation and saying that he wanted to die.
According to the Chicago Tribune, DCS visited with the Choate family in Gary, Indiana more than a dozen times starting in 1999, investigating allegations of abuse and neglect. Authorities never discovered what prosecutors claim was the true depth of the misery in which young Christian lived.
Based on accounts from his sister and stepsister, Christian, who died in 2009 at age 13, spent much of the last year of his life locked in a three-foot-high dog cage, with little food and drink and few opportunities to leave. When he did get out of the cage, he endured savage beatings from his father Riley.
One night in April of 2009, Christian was too weak to keep his food down. His father allegedly beat him to the point of unconsciousness, then locked his limp body in the cage.
The next morning, his sister Christina found him dead.
According to investigators, Riley then buried the boy in a shallow grave, covered his body in concrete, and moved with Christina to Kentucky, where he threatened to harm her if she ever told anyone about his death. It would be two years before his body was found.
One of the reasons his absence wasn't noticed was that his stepmother, Kimberly Kubina, took him out of school, saying that he was being home-schooled.
The extent of that homeschooling was revealed in some letters found by DCS. When other children were out playing, Kubina would give Christian paper and tell him to write.
"Christian wrote of why nobody liked him and how he just wanted to be liked by his family," a DCS document wrote, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "Christian stated that he wanted to die because nobody liked the way he 'acted.' Christian's writings detail a very sad, depressed child who often wondered when someone, anyone, was going to come check on him and give him food or liquid. Christian often stated he was hungry or thirsty."
In a still more disturbing twist, the Northwest Indiana Times reveals some of the assignments his stepmother gave:

Kubina wrote topics on top of some of the pages including, "Why do you want to play with your peter? Why do you still want to see your mom? Why can't you let the past go? What does it mean to be part of a family?" DCS records state.

Riley Choate and Kimberly Kubina have been charged with murder, battery, neglect of a dependent, confinement, obstruction of justice, moving a body from a death scene and failure to notify authorities of a dead body. They have both pleaded not guilty.

Autum Ashante, a 13-year-old from the Bronx, N.Y., will be starting her freshman year at the University of Connecticut this fall at the age of 13.
AOL Black Voices reports that Autum speaks three languages (Arabic, Swahili and Spanish) in addition to English, is an accomplished performer at various of spoken-word venues around the country and scored 149 on an IQ test.
Her father, Ben Ashante, recognized Autum's talents early on and opted for homeschooling. Having retired early, he was able to dedicate himself to his daughter's education full time, enlisting the help of local retired teachers to supplement her curriculum.
Mr. Ashante said in a recent statement to the Daily News that he wants his child to be a role model for others, especially black and Latino young people. "What she's doing is groundbreaking, but this is not about vanity," he said. "It's about setting the tone for other black and Latino children who will come behind her. They're always being told they are underachievers. We want to show this can be done."
In our opinion, Autum's not the only one who's a role model in this family. Congrats to her parents for their commitment to allowing her to fulfill her potential, and for having a vision that's even broader than her individual success.Read more at AOL Black Voices.

By Michelle Balanihttp://t.co/XDBnRvV via @thegrioAmerican soldiers salute while the national anthem is played during a ceremony marking Veterans Day at the U.S. Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
When President Barack Obama announced that he would be bringing back the 33,000 troops serving in Afghanistan by the summer of 2012, the news was welcomed with great anticipation. And while this announcement caused military families across the nation to breathe a sigh of relief, for many soldiers coming back home, their battles will be far from over.
This is particularly true for women soldiers with physical and mental wounds of war, as transitioning back into civilian life is wrought with uncertainties and a lack of adequate resources available to address their specific needs. Female military members make up about 15 percent of our active armed forces, and a report released in December 2010 by the Veterans Administration's Office of Inspector General found that women soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have a more difficult time reintegrating back into society and are more likely to be diagnosed with mental-health conditions than male soldiers.
"For any veteran, it is a very tough time, going from war, being with people who understand what it's like and what you're going through to feeling almost alone and not understood by anyone," said J. Ashwin Madia, Interim Chairman of VoteVets.org, a veteran advocacy group. "Less than one percent of America has served in the wars we're in, and even fewer women. So, for women to re-enter society, it can be a very solitary experience. Homelessness is also a huge issue and there's a very strong link between PTSD and homelessness among veterans of all generations."
Out of the 150,000 women who have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002, 23 percent of them are African-American. Sydney Lee, the president of the African American PTSD Association, says that black women in combat zones have higher rates of PTSD, and they are often victims of assaults that are never reported. With only 15 Veterans Affairs centers across the country providing residential mental-health treatment specifically for women with PTSD, is the nation adequately prepared to serve the unique needs of this population, and help them make a successful transition back to the lives they once knew?
"Reintegration is difficult for all veterans," adds Colleen Corliss, communications manager at the Iraq veterans program for Swords to Plowshares. "For those suffering from PTSD, military sexual trauma or other mental illness from service, the average wait time for an initial decision for disability benefits and proper treatment is 161 days, which is plenty of time for a veteran's life to spiral out of control."
Veterans who don't seek timely medical or psychological intervention often numb their pain by using drugs or alcohol, which usually leads to more problems like homelessness and suicide. Corliss adds that women veterans are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than non-veteran women.
Unemployment is another issue for soldiers returning back home. A report released by the U.S. Census Bureau in April 2011 found that "Post 9/11 veterans may face temporary employment problems as they first enter the labor market after their military enlistment ends due to imperfect knowledge of the civilian job market and difficulty translating military skills into civilian terms for employers."
The lack of transferable skills can cause a veteran to be unemployed for some time, and this can contribute to them being homeless, which is four times more likely for women veterans than for non-veterans.

Annie was seen at Linton Court Apartments in Edinburgh 3rd Dec 2005, she was later spotted at the CCTV at Prestwick Airport, and maybe at some very blurry CCTV pictures from Station road in Prestwick town. Annie was then missing for 16 hours before being found dead 08.30, Sunday 4th Dec 2005. We are looking for witnesses who met or/and spoke with her during her last days in life. Many of her personal items were missing, and her... filofax was gone, where she kept all contact details to friends and contacts world wide.

Please have a look at the photos of Annie, did you know her when she was living in Edinburgh, did you meet or speak with her at some occasion? Do not hesitate in contacting her family, any small observation or information could lead to that the truth about her death in suspicious circumstances could be solved.

Thank you for taking your time reading this,
and bless you for inviting others to do the same,
hopefully we will be able to reach out to those who might have very
important information thanks to our Facebook friends.

4WARD FOREVER THE HEROES the full-length documentary by award winning filmmakers Bill Maloney & Lilly Starr. Dedicated to all those who have lost their lives in Police custody.

On the 7th September 2003, Michael Lloyd Powell (also known as Mikey) was run over, restrained, beaten and CS gassed by Police Officers from the West Midlands Police Force.

After the abuse Mikey suffered he was declared dead at the Police station. His Family had to wait for six years to hear the verdict from the Coroner at Mikey's Inquest. The verdict was 'Positional Asphyxia' due to Police restraints.

Mikey's case is sadly just one of many.

In the feature documentary, filmmakers Bill Maloney and Lilly Starr visited Mikey Powell's Remembrance Day, at the Highfields Community Centre in Leicester.

4WARDEVERUK- the organisation that leads the charge against unlawful deaths in Police custody, asked the filmmakers if they would document the day.

Bill Maloney's reply to this request was as follows:
"There has to be a time of coming together, for all victims and their families around the world so that we can fight against these outrageous crimes. Not for revenge, but for peace & justice. I'd be honoured to make a film for 4wardeverUK. God bless all victims & survivors"

Sarah Campbell
Who died in prison custody
January 2003 R.I.P.
Pauline Campbell was found dead on 15 May 2008, not far from the grave of her daughter Sarah. Sarah died in January 2003 in HMP Styal.http://rememberpauline.wordpress.com/about/

Before you view this film we would ask you to consider that the people making these films have been making them for 'nothing' for the last six years of their lives; they have all made great sacrifices. To show your support and to help them continue please SEND A DONATION, no matter how small to: Or buy their DVD's online at http://www.pienmashfilms.com/userimages/procart5.htm

I want you to think about this — these women are victims of a heinous crime. However, the heinous crime is not considered as such, it is considered an act of defending ones honor. A man whose marriage proposal is refused is defending his honor by throwing acid onto the body of the woman who refused his proposal. How dare she refuse him, his feelings are hurt and he is just so pissed off. But hey, we are talking about Islam, where men whose feelings are hurt by a woman get to act out their anger.

Yep, in Islam Mr. Refused is told not to seek counseling but seek revenge –throw acid in her face, you can even make a human torch out of her, you need to defend your honor man and we will back you up –you are the victim and she wears a veil that covers her face so we can hide our methods of peaceful honor defending. That is until she decides to lift her veil and show the world the horrific barbaric truth of what really goes on within the walls of the honorable religion of peace.

Warning the following photos are graphic and horrifying and real!

Story of Nasreen Sharif

Nasreen Sharif, 23, was once a beautiful girl. When she turned 14, her cousin poured a bottle of sulphuric acid on her face as she slept. His excuse was that he couldn’t stand other boys whistling at her (because of he beauty) when she crossed the street. She no longer bears any resemblance to that youthful beauty. “My skin melted and my hair burned away. I am now blind, I have no ears and I have no sense of smell”,says Nasreen.

Story of Parveen Akhtar

Parveen Akhtar, 38, from Jehlum found her life changed when her husband asked her for her written permission to allow him to remarry. Her refusal to it angered him and he tried to murder her by dousing her body with kerosene and setting it alight. He portrayed the incident as an accident and told people that he wanted to remarry because she cannot bear children.

Story of Bashiran Bibi

Nearly 25 years ago, newly-married Bashiran Bibi (now 57), a resident of Sukheki, Pakistan, was pushed by her mother-in-law into a coal stove. The family proclaimed it to be an accident. Her husband blamed it on a fit of epilepsy that she suffers from. Resolved to her fate, Bashiran continues to live with her husband and in-laws and gave birth to 5 children after this “accident”. Whatever money is donated to Bashiran’s cause, her husband uses it for himself and doesn’t spend any on her treatment.

Story of Mumtaz Bibi

Mumtaz Bibi, 39, from Khairpur, Pakistan, came under her husband’s wrath while trying to protect her daughters. Her offence was that she refused to let him selling off her girls, shielding them with her life. Because of her lack of compliance, her husband poured acid all over her body, then proceeded to divorce her.

Story of Tasneem Shahzad

24-year-old Tasneem Shahzad’s story is repeated all too often. A girl, too poor to bring much demanded dowry, she bore the wrath of greedy in-laws. Tasneem’s ex-husband was an addict. It was left to her to support her own household as well as that of her extended family. Tasneem worked in several homes to support all those who depended on her. However, that was not pleasing enough for her greedy in-laws. One day, her clothes were set on fire by her rapacious in-laws and she suffered severe burns. They then proceeded to try and prove that the incident was an accident.

Rays of Hope

Amidst this grim state of affairs for the unfortunate women of Pakistan, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is working to expose the extent of the gender-violence in Pakistan and the misogynist mindset behind it, which is spreading within the Pakistani Middle Class. The AHRC is working closely with acid-attack victims as part of its involvement for denouncing human rights violations across Asia.

The Depilex Smileagain Foundation is another organization, which is working with victims of acid-attack to help them smile again, however impossible a task it may appear: they are trying to make impossible possible. In fact, DSF is working in partnership with the Italian NGO Smileagain Foundation that believes, “There is every possibility that these survivors can manage to live the rest of their lives with dignity, with some help.”

A team of Italian doctors, linked to Italian Smileagain Foundation, visit Pakistan every three months to conduct operations on those victims in an effort to give them back as normal a life as possible.

In September, 2008, the team visited Lahore where they carried out two operations and then proceeded to Multan, where surgeries were carried out in Bakhtawar Amin Memorial Trust Hospital. Some 60 patients were evaluated and 8 surgeries carried out.

The stories from Mutlan were strangely different. This is an area where people have property and the disputes often revolve around inheritance. Here wrath knows no gender. Whereas in other parts of the country it is often women who are burnt by acid or fires, here there are as many male victims as well. Those who have been working with Smileagain Foundation, say that what they have seen in Multan is very similar to what occurs in Bangladesh. Property encourages men to lead an idle life, it leads them to indulge in pursuits of personal pleasure, and when they see a chunk of their means of this blissful idle life slipping away, their greed turns them into violent criminals.

Undoubtedly, the life of misery and horror the victims of acid-attacks have to live on is hard to comprehend. While organizations like Smileagain Foundation works toward giving these devastated victims as dignified and normal a life as possible, let us hope that works of Human Rights groups, such as AHRC, of the media and civil-society groups help expose and discredit the Islam-motivated misogyny that is responsible for the malaise, which only can cure this problem and help restore women as a dignified and equal part of men in Pakistan and any other society

How would you describe this moment in history? The descendants of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington write to their ancestors on the eve of the inauguration of America's first black president (Video: Jon Groat, Sarah Frank, Lee Wang)

The Boycott 4 Justice shopping moratorium on the 9th of each month during 2011 is a peaceful, powerful People's protest against corporate greed and government misdeeds that are responsible for every problem facing Americans. Dr. King and the early labor unions recognized that effective protests must impact profits. Join Americans who fight oppression by keeping your money every month on the 9th - no shopping online or in person.

Saturday, 25 June 2011

New Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel isn’t your standard political appointee. He offers no bureaucratic veneer or double-talk. The hulking former semi-pro football player gets straight to the point: he’s changing the way Pennsylvania prisons do business.

View full sizeJohn C. Whitehead, The Patriot-NewsNew Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel, a former minor-league football player and offensive line coach at Shippensburg, brings a no BS attitude to the job and is being hailed as "one of the biggest changes we've seen in decades. ... The Department of Corrections is rethinking prisons as we know them."

“It’s one of the biggest changes we’ve seen in decades,” said Ann Schwartzman, policy director for the Pennsylvania Prison Society. “The Department of Corrections is rethinking prisons as we know them.”
In his first months in office, Wetzel raised eyebrows and some political hackles by canceling the planned construction of a new prison in Fayette County and revising plans for a new prison at Graterford in Montgomery County. “Prison construction is not economic development,” Wetzel said.
“We’re spending too much money on corrections,” he said.

Patriot-News special project on Pennsylvania's broken prison system.

One way to reduce the nearly $2 billion Pennsylvania spends each year on prisons, it has to do a better job keeping inmates from coming back after they are released.
The root cause of a lot of crime is an addiction issue, he said. “Treat that, and provide support when they return to the community.”
Pennsylvania’s treatment results are generally good, so Wetzel is focusing on the return to the community. Prisons' locations make support more difficult
The geography of Pennsylvania’s prisons does not match the geography of its crime.
“There are 10,000 more beds in the west than inmates from the west,” he said. That makes it more difficult for inmates from the east to return to their communities with success.
Keys to that success, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, are a support system in the community, housing, employment and ongoing treatment and supervision.
Wetzel said 27 percent of female inmates come from the Philadelphia area, yet the nearest female facility is 170 miles away.
Wetzel said he recognizes the importance of reconnecting with children and family, the importance of having beds where your inmates come from. His redesign at Graterford, near Philadelphia, adds a wing for female inmates about to leave the system.
He is also instituting new partnerships with county jails, where inmates will be sent before their release.
If an inmate is from Lancaster, but he’s sent to a Community Corrections Center in Erie in preparation for his release, Wetzel said, “I’m not doing a good job of helping him reconnect with the support system.”
Some of the local jails have established programs that would better integrate the inmate back into a home, a job and a potentially crime-free life.
It’s a difference in style as well as substance.
Wetzel’s 6-foot-3 frame does not easily accommodate the required suit and tie, but neither does his straightforward personality.
His size and presence make it easy to imagine him as a force on the football field. Wetzel played college football at Bloomsburg, becoming a standout on the offensive line. He played two seasons for the semi-pro Central Penn Piranha and was an offensive line coach at Shippensburg University.
“He’s intimidating to look at, but he’s just a great guy to get along with,” said Mark Maciejewski, head football coach for Shippensburg University.
“He’s not going to BS you, no question about it,” Maciejewski said. “You can believe him and trust what he’s talking about. ... Everything he says, he’s thought out.”
“But when it’s time to get down to business, he gets down to business for sure,” Maciejewski said. Wetzel refreshingly lacks political polish
When the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Prison Society hosted Wetzel at a conference in Harrisburg last month, he showed up early and exited late.
He fielded questions before and after the program, and for over two hours at the podium.
Wetzel’s responses seemed to lack all political polish, and nearly everyone agreed: It was refreshing.
A minister-turned-businessman complained that plans for a half-way house he wanted to build in Clearfield County were derailed by a Department of Corrections employee who led community opposition. The employee said things that contradicted Department of Corrections policy, the man said, and he told Wetzel if the woman had worked for his church, she would have been fired.
“You don’t have a union at your church,” Wetzel said.
Then he went a step further.
“Put 10 people in a room,” he told the man, “one of ‘em’s probably going to be a jerk. We have 16,000.”
But Wetzel’s no rube. He has a degree in psychology from Bloomsburg University, is studying for a masters from Penn State, has over 20 years experience and has been published nationally.
When a woman chided Wetzel for being critical of unions, he replied that he was simply pointing out the flaw in the man’s argument.
Skeptics need only talk to people who worked for Wetzel at his last job, when he was warden of the Franklin County Jail.
“You couldn’t ask for a better boss,” said Robert Fink, a corrections officer for 17 years and president of the local union. “He took us from what seemed like the stone age into the future. ... He took care of the employees too.”
In Franklin County, Wetzel oversaw the construction of a state-of-the-art new jail. But he also developed a day reporting center, job readiness program and other initiatives that resulted in a lower jail population today than 10 years ago.
“He helped reduce our jail population, but more importantly, it helped to turn people’s lives around,” said Bob Thomas, Franklin County Commissioner and president of the local prison board.
“John Wetzel was probably the best manager I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with in 16 years as a county commissioner,” Thomas said. “He is a superb communicator... a straight shooter. You ask him a question, he’ll explain to you the rationale that went into the decision. He makes people understand the issues that are involved.”
“He sees a problem, knows how to address it, and he gets it done,” Thomas said.
Wetzel gained a reputation within county commissioner circles as “a miracle worker,” Thomas said.
“He’s the real deal,” Thomas said. “If anybody can perform miracles, it’s John Wetzel.”
And a miracle may be required in Pennsylvania, which has seen its prisons bulge with generally nonviolent but drug and alcohol addicted inmates. Prison spending grows
Prison spending has gone from $94 million in 1980 to more than $1.8 billion last year.
Wetzel is characteristically blunt. “If you don’t want to spend this much money, don’t send us as many people,” he said.
Putting that answer into practice is more of a challenge, and out of Wetzel’s control.
States like Texas that have successfully and safely cut their prison populations and prison budgets have done so by spending money on intensive treatment programs at the local level — to prevent people from entering the state system in the first place, or from returning to it once they are released.
That takes action by legislatures.
“The big push right now is on justice reinvestment,” Wetzel said. “There is probably more political will now than ever to make significant change in the system.”
He said as he made the rounds prior to his confirmation, “Everybody I talked to said, ‘We’re going to do something to reduce non-violent offenders.’”
He said he’s taking them at their word.
And he’s bringing the Pennsylvania prisoners housed in Michigan and Virginia home within the year.
“We’re not perfect, but if we’re going to spend money on corrections, we need to spend it here,” Wetzel said.
If legislators keep their word, the results could be significant.
“Think about in terms of 2,000 inmates at a time,” Wetzel said, because that’s how many are in a single prison. “If we can close a facility, that’s $50 million a year in savings. If we can close down a facility, we can save significant money.”
Addressing the root causes of crime can’t be done by cutting treatment and training programs, he said.
Texas spent $250 million and saved nearly $2 billion.
“Cut this year, you’ll spend it next year, and so will your DA and your county. There’s a ripple effect,” Wetzel said. “It may cost us today, but it will save us tomorrow.”
But that’s up to the Legislature.
Wetzel is focused on what he can change: community corrections and the successful re-entry of inmates into society.
“It’s not just the prisons that need to do a better job of community corrections. The communities need to do a better job at community corrections, too,” he said.
Wetzel said he recently got notice that 10 churches were willing to accept people back into their congregations, and he thought, “Great!” Until he realized, “It’s churches. ... we have to convince churches to take people from their community back!”
“You can point fingers at me,” Wetzel said, “but some of the fingers need to be pointed to the community.”

In my fantasy I see a just world,There everyone lives in peace and honesty.I dream of souls that are always free,Like clouds that flyFull of humanity down to the soulI dream of souls that are always free,Like clouds that flyFull of humanity down to the soul

Where is the Justice for Christopher Lee Ratliff His Mom Geneva Maynard said ;I have 3 conflicting statements,one officer tried to say'wasn't there'the other say,all of them were, another say he threw a few distractionary blow to the back and leg,I know these guys are known as cowboys by city council,I call them murd...erers,my son was sitting in a passenger car seat with a seatbelt on,holding on for dear life,but they pulled him out by his feet continue beating and kicking.He thought they were his buddies, but killed him instead
Please help to get Justice for Christopher: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/239/please-help-to-get-justice-for-christopher/

Iranian Woman's Testimony of Rape and Torture from IntlCampforHRinIran on Vimeo.
On the second anniversary of the disputed June 2009 election and the ensuing repression, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today released video testimony from a young female detainee, describing in detail her severe torture and repeated rape after her arbitrary arrest.

Her forceful testimony challenges the Iranian authorities’ official narrative, which denies widespread use of torture and rape by security forces against ordinary protestors.

“The raw material for this video was originally obtained by the Center for Investigative Reporting. Reach them at information@cironline.org.”

MAPUTO (AFP) – Mozambique will begin housing minors in separate prisons from adults, the justice minister said Friday on state television as she opened the country's first juvenile detention facility.
"The country's overcrowded prisons house today as much as 16,000 inmates, 35 percent of them minors aged between 16 and 21 years old," Justice Minister Benvinda Levi said on state television.
"We need to rehabilitate adolescents and young adults, so we are introducing these centers to allow them the right to maintain regular contact with their families and to assist them," she said.
She was speaking Wednesday at the opening of a Juvenile Recovery Prison Facility in Boane, about 500 kilometres (300 miles) north of Maputo. State TVM television called the facility the first of its kind in the country, with room for 200 minors aged 16 to 21.
Levi said most juveniles in prison were locked up on charges of petty theft and still awaiting trial.
The change also aims to protect teenagers from sexual violence committed by other inmates, which has created an AIDS crisis inside prison walls.
The country's overall HIV prevalence rate is 11 percent, but the rate inside prisons is about three times higher, according to the health ministry.

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --http://pop.to/496t
"The prolonged ingestion of fluoride may cause significant damage to health and particularly to the nervous system," concludes a review of studies by researchers Valdez-Jimenez, et al. published in Neurologia (June 2011), reports New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. (NYSCOF).
The research team reports, "It is important to be aware of this serious problem and avoid the use of toothpaste and items that contain fluoride, particularly in children as they are more susceptible to the toxic effects of fluoride." (1)
"Fluoride can be toxic by ingesting one part per million (ppm), and the effects are not immediate, as they can take 20 years or more to become evident," they write.
Most fluoridating U.S. public drinking water suppliers add fluoride chemicals to deliver 1 ppm fluoride (equal to about 1 milligram per quart) intending to benefit teeth and not to purify the water.
"Fluoridation clearly jeopardizes our children and must be stopped," says attorney Paul Beeber, President, NYSCOF. "We can actually see how fluoride has damaged children's teeth with dental fluorosis; but we can't see the harm it's doing to their brains and other organs. No U.S. researcher is even looking," says Beeber.
Valdez-Jimenez, et al. describe studies that show fluoride induces changes in the brain's physical structure and biochemistry which affects the neurological and mental development of individuals including cognitive processes, such as learning and memory.
"Fluoride is capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier, which may cause biochemical and functional changes in the nervous system during pregnancy, since the fluoride accumulates in brain tissue before birth," they write.*
Animal studies show fluoride's toxic brain effects include classic brain abnormalities found in patients with Alzheimer's disease, Valdez-Jimenez's team reports.
A different research team (Tang et al.) reported in 2008 that "A qualitative review of the studies found a consistent and strong association between the exposure to fluoride and low IQ." (Biological Trace Element Research) (2)
In 2006, the U.S. National Research Council's (NRC) expert fluoride panel reviewed fluoride toxicology and concluded, "It's apparent that fluorides have the ability to interfere with the functions of the brain." And, "Fluorides also increase the production of free radicals in the brain through several different biological pathways. These changes have a bearing on the possibility that fluorides act to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease." (3)
On April 12, 2010, Time magazine listed fluoride as one of the "Top Ten Common Household Toxins" and described fluoride as both "neurotoxic and potentially tumorigenic if swallowed." (4)Phyllis Mullenix, Ph.D., was the first U.S. scientist to find evidence that fluoride damages the brain. She published her animal study in a respected peer-reviewed scientific journal in 1995 (5) and then was fired for doing so.(6)Vyvyan Howard, M.D., Ph.D., a prominent fetal toxicologist and past-President of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment, said that current brain/fluoride research convinces him that we should stop water fluoridation.
Many communities have stopped or rejected fluoridation in the past several years – the most recent is Fairbanks, Alaska. This year, seven New York City Council Members co-sponsored legislation to stop fluoridation in NYC.
*Translated from Spanish using Google Translation
References: https://groups.google.com/d/topic/fluoridation-news-releases/rD7pCONMcLw/discussion
Contact: Paul Beeber, JD, 516-433-8882 nyscof@aol.comhttp://www.FluorideAction.Nethttp://www.fluoridation.webs.com
SOURCE NYS Coalition Opposed to FluoridationBack to top RELATED LINKShttp://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof

I am currently in prison at Indiana Woman’s Prison. Here at my facility they allow us to purchase hair dye and go to cosmetology to have our hair colored.

On may 27, 2011 for the 3rd time this year I went to cosmo going from hair color of brown and red to a blonde, a brassy blonde. However, there were certain areas of my hair that remained darker than the over all color and on June 2, 2011 another stylist retreated those areas and gave me a more even tone.

On June 7, 2011 the superintendent Mr. McCauley called me over by my name and told me that I needed to get a new badge. (we are required to wear a badge with our photo and department of corrections number on it at all times for identification).

He did not request to see my current badge nor did he state his reasoning for me to get a new badge though I assumed it was because of the change in my hair color. I told Mr. McCauley “ok” and then asked how I would go about getting a new badge.

No one to this point as ever advised me to obtain a new badge. He told me to send a “blue slip” to my counsellor.

I again stated “ok” and started to walk away, he calls me back and tells me that it will cost me 3 dollar. I state “that’s fine” and head off again and he asks what unit I live on.

And I tell him “4”. Once I finished handling the matter in which I was originally setting out to do Mr. McCauley calls me over again stating that he wasn’t finished with me for me to have a seat. He says “Graves” and nothing als. I have no clue to what he is meaning and look at him unknowingly and shrug my shoulders and arms. He then says “Schalfelt” I respond in the same matter.

He then says “Is Graver or Schalfelt your counsellor over on 4?”

I say “both”.

Thinking why didn’t he say that to begin with? He then tells me I need to put in a blue slip with one of them to get a new badge. I say “ok” but I’m thinking “haven’t we been through this already?” He repeats himself a few more times and now I’m becoming highly agitated. I’m feeling as if this man has called me back over here to talk down to me and insult my intelligence by repeating himself over and over again as if I am incapable of following simple instructions.

He then says that he will be checking and if I don’t have one soon that he is going to “nail” me.

Now he has threatened me over something as simple as obtaining a new badge. I demand “for what?”

He says “For not having a new badge”

I tell him that I can’t make these people give me a new badge, defensively and he says “no, but you can put in a blue slip to your counsellor like I’m telling you to do and you need to be “Corrigible””.

Not even truly knowing what he means by this I instantly shut up and look away. (Corrigible – able to correct; capable of being corrected).

He again repeats himself and asks me if I understand and I tell him “yes”.

I remain until he dismisses me. Only speaking to correct him on my destination.

On June 9, 2011 I had a new photo taken and received a new badge. On June 10, 2011 I was called from my job assignment to the supervisors area where I was then cuffed and brought to the segregation unit. No one knowing why.

On June 11, 2011 I signed papers for segregation admittance for pending administrative segregation on status.

Which is suppose to be a housing classification unlike disciplinary segregation for when you have violate the rules and receive a sanction, yet we are housed in the same unit with very minor differences.

Later that day, after being here for longer then 24 hours, I meet with Ms. Washington. I have known Ms. Washington for approximately a year and a half and I am still unsure what her job position title is.

She asks me if I knew why I was here and I stated to her I did not. She says “So you mean to tell me you were brought to segregation and no one explained to you why?” I told here, no one knew.

She said “Mr. McCauley wanted you brought down here because of your hair.”

My hair! He is also now claiming that he told me to darken it. Which he did not.

I am sitting in segregation because the superintendent is prejudice to me having blonde hair.

See I am a multiracial female but no where have I seen a rule that states woman with dark skin aren’t allowed to have blonde or light hair.

Ms. Washington in claiming the issue is the dramatic change yet there was a white woman on June 2 who went from dark hair to the same color as mine and they cut her hair into a Mohawk, she was not brought to segregation.

I have colored my hair blonde, nothing outrageous such as blue, purple, pink, though I have seen women with these colors in their hair. None have ever been sent to segregation or told they needed to change their hair color.

If I have to darken my hair is every other woman who has naturally dark hair going to be required to do the same?

Why aren’t they sitting in segregation?

How many woman are walking around right now with a hair color that is different from their badge?

I did what was asked of me in more that an reasonable amount of time. I believe Mr. McCauley didn’t think I would obtain a new badge as quickly as I had and so now he is claiming he told me to darken it.

Even though other staff members never heard him say this either.

Plain and simply he does not like the color of my hair so he has had me placed in segregation though I have not broken any rules.

Had he even requested for me to darken my hair, they only allow us to purchase hair dye once a month so at the very earliest I would not be able to darken it until July.

For eleven days I had blonde hair saw Lieutenants, Captains, Sergeants even Ms. Washington herself and no one said anything to me about obtaining a new badge or having to darken the color. Even when I spoke with the Major on June 9, 2011, he commented on me being a blonde and being used to the brown and red but said nothing about having to darken it or obtaining a new badge.

Funny thing is in the old badge, my hair is blonde in it. It’s grown out from being in the county jail but the blonde is there.

How is this man permitted to abuse his authority in this manner? I have filed a grievance written to the assistant superintendent but 7 days later I am still sitting here. Aren’t my rights being violated? I am being discriminated against for having blonde hair. This is wrong.

This is not the first time Mr. McCauley has placed me under administrative segregation.

In July 2009 I was transferred from Rockville Correctional Facility. After being there weeks shy of two years I beat up a woman who had been harassing me for eight months. Of course during that time I tried dealing with the situation in the appropriate manner but in the end no one was willing to help. So to remove myself out of the situation I beat her up. I spent 15 days in segregation and was released to a different housing unit without incident.

Four days later I was brought to IWP (Indiana Woman’s Prison) and was totally devastated.

I was housed in the segregation unit but only because of lack of beds. When in my sixth day the sgt. of the unit told me there was a mistake I was to be a/s (administrative segregation). I couldn’t understand why and she knew nothing. I served my sanction at Rockville and had gotten in no more trouble.

The next day Mr. McCauley met with me and the first words out of his mouth were “so I hear you like to beat people up.” I was dumbfounded. I told him “a person” he said “a person is people”.

He told me that I was violent in prison and asked what my record was in the street that I was probably violent there too. (I am here for voluntary manslaughter. I stabbed my children’s father one time while he was beating me and he later died from the wound.).

Here this man was judging me not knowing a thing about me or what I had been through.

All my hard work and accomplishments for my first two years in prison meant nothing. The fact that two months prior to me beating up that woman, someone beat me up I did not fight back, two months prior to that another woman spit in my face not once, not twice, but three times, I did nothing. None of it mattered. How long are you to allow people to walk on you before you stand up for yourself?

When authority fails to protect you who else do you have but yourself?

Mr. McCauley however decided to release me from segregation. He said it went in my favour that I had been in population with no problems but it was his responsibility to make sure the offenders in population were safe from me. Yet who was there to ensure I was safe?

The transition from Rockville to IWP was a very difficult one for me and I wanted nothing to do with this place and only desired to be sent back to Rockville. I rebelled. The rules here were so different which I could not understand.

Aren’t they both maximum security prisons?

I don’t think I was in population two weeks when I went to segregation for refusing my job.

I was working nights and going to college during the day. Getting about three hours of sleep. I couldn’t take it. I felt as if I was going mad and needed a break so I refused my job. Six days of peace, it was nice, just what I needed.

I made it about five weeks in population the next time. I was finally starting to adjust, was beginning to smile for a change. And then this lady tried to punk me in the shower. I won’t go into the long drawn out details but she tried to remove my personal belongings and when I snatched them from her she pinched me in my arm and I punched her in the face four times. Now I was wet and completely naked. She started screaming for the officer and it ended with since I’m going to lock I mid-as-well make it worth it and punch her four more times. I know I was totally wrong for this. My sanction was 15 days (then I was A/S).

I served seven months and one week I believe.

She served three days.

During that seven months I did receive one sanction, two months into my stay, it too was for 15 days. Had I been released after the 15 days I would have probably not received the other sanction.

And really what I needed was mental health treatment not a write-up because I completely flipped out.

Honestly I have to say I wanted to be in segregation. You don’t have to be productive here. All my hoped, dreams and plans were destroyed when I came to IWP. So when you want nothing from life when you set no goals there is no disappointment when you lose those things because there is nothing to lose.

So after 7 months I am kicked out of lock. How disappointing that was.

Now I have to walk over to receive my meals, pay and do my own laundry. Socialize with people. I wanted nothing to do with people. But I started to set incentives for myself small goals to reach. I would tell myself if you make it to this date and don’t feel any better then you can go back to lock…

Three weeks after being released I was moved to the Grace unit. A behavioural dorm that they just opened. My qualification I had one week until my last sanction “fell off.”

One week!

So all the privileges, the goals I set for myself were once again taken away. I was very angry about this. Actually I had woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning and the day just increasingly got worse.

In the end Mr. McCauley came and spoke with me, the first thing he said was “Do you want to go back to segregation?” And I said “Yes”.

Of course I want to go back to living the sweet life, who wouldn’t?

Of course I tried to explain to him about taking away all my incentive, he heard not a word of what I was saying.

Actually the only thing he heard me way was “yes” to going back to lock.

They knew before kicking me out of segregation that they were going to move me to the Grace unit so why not let me stay those 3 extra weeks.

No, instead they give me privileges and then take them away saying they’re not punishing me. Yesterday I could do this and now I can’t. That’s a punishment.

In those 3 weeks there were so many times I wanted to give up, flip out and get into trouble but I didn’t and that’s how I was rewarded.

So Mr. McCauley restated my A/S status and tells me that I’m going to have to work twice as hard to get out this time. I didn’t work at it the first time, I didn’t want to leave.

Needless to say three weeks later they were kicking me out again.

Back into Grace unit, my paperwork stating I needed skills in socializing. What a yoke. I felt as though I was living in a zee half the time and the other a day care centre.

I learned nothing by being in this program for 3 months. 3 phases of 30 days each phase, unless you receive sanctions.

September 2010 one full year after going to segregation for the shower incident I am released back into population. My first three months were a struggle but the past 6 months I’ve been doing very well.

Other offenders and staff members have acknowledge my hard work and change. I completed the horticulture program and anger management. I participate in yoga. I’m making an effort even at times I don’t want to.

See, I have 5 children and for the first year or so I was at IWP I was being very selfish but I have remained out of segregation for them.

When you are in segregation you have one hour visits, instead of the normal 2, behind a window on the phone cuffed in a locked room.

At Rockville you are cuffed in the room with your family but here there are no contact visits.

I had went 6 whole months without seeing my children, a total of 8 months without touching them because of me being in segregation. That has been the longest time I had ever been away from my children.

Now that I am back in segregation my mother says she doesn’t want to see me behind a window. I’m suppose to have a visit tomorrow yet I don’t know if she’ll come.

My children have no understanding to why I am in segregation because this man doesn’t like my hair color. And how can I explain it to them when I don’t understand it myself.

So here I have been working so hard at staying out of trouble for them, just to end up right where I started. This makes no sense to me.

This place is suppose to be about rehabilitation, yet the man in charge of it all determines who you are from day one never really taking the time to know you, or how you think, or believing you can change.

Change is a progress, it doesn’t occur over night. I am not perfect not will I ever be but I am striving to be a better person. I handle situations better today than what I did last year and I hope to handle things even better next year then what I do today.

All I’m asking for is a chance and an opportunity and when I stumble help me up, don’t push me further down.

Welcome To My World

About Me

DARCY D= YOU MUST BELIEVE.STANDING UP FOR THE INNOCENT C.E.O
The United Kingdom resident champions causes of the voiceless, the powerless and the weak, particularly in North America. She campaigns for petitions on behalf of incarcerated human trafficking.